Cityheart has told East Herts the 171-home Old River Lane scheme cannot be built as proposed. An all-affordable option is now on the table, with no timetable.

The scheme at the centre of Bishop’s Stortford’s town centre regeneration cannot be built as it stands. East Herts Council has confirmed that its development partner, Cityheart, has reviewed the proposals and concluded that the plans in the current planning application are no longer financially viable in their present form.

The council called the news “extremely disappointing” in a statement published on 2 September.

The application in question is still sitting on the council’s own planning register. Reference 3/25/1949/FUL was received on 15 December 2025 and validated on Christmas Eve. Its status today is Awaiting decision. It proposes:

  • up to 171 homes, of which 48 would be affordable
  • community use space
  • retail and commercial units
  • a public square
  • new and improved streets, footpaths and cycle lanes

The site is land at Old River Lane and The Causeway, CM23 2EN, in the Bishop’s Stortford North ward. East Herts Council owns it. Cityheart is the developer responsible for bringing forward the proposals.

Why the council says it stopped adding up

The statement gives four reasons, and only one of them is specific to this scheme:

  • significant increases in construction costs
  • inflationary pressures
  • higher finance costs
  • the proposals were designed around the build-to-rent market, which the council says has seen weaker demand and returns than anticipated

The first three are national. The fourth is the design decision that now looks exposed. A build-to-rent scheme is one where the flats are held and let by a single owner rather than sold off individually, and the numbers depend on rents and investor appetite holding up.

What could replace it, including an all-affordable scheme

The council says the ambition has not changed. The Old River Lane Board still wants a town centre destination with homes, commercial space and a public square. Cityheart is working on revised options, and the council lists four things being looked at:

  • making more efficient use of the site
  • reviewing the road layout
  • increasing the amount of affordable housing delivered
  • the potential for a 100% affordable housing-led scheme

That last one is the most significant line in the statement. The current application offers 48 affordable homes out of 171, which is 28 per cent. An all-affordable scheme would be a different project with a different funding model.

The Board has asked Cityheart to bring revised proposals to it before any updated planning application is submitted. There is no confirmed timetable for that.

Councillor Mione Goldspink, Executive Member for Neighbourhoods, said in the statement: “We recognise that this news will be disappointing, particularly for those who have engaged with the project and shared their views during the consultation process.” She added that the council remains “committed to delivering the long-term vision for Old River Lane”.

This is the second scheme to fall over on this site

The planning register shows how long this has been running. Three years ago today, on 6 September 2023, an earlier and larger scheme was formally withdrawn.

Timeline of Old River Lane planning applications from November 2022 to September 2026
Two applications, one withdrawn and one stalled, on the same council-owned site.

Application 3/22/2571/OUT was an outline application for five development plots. It offered up to 225 homes, including up to 75 extra care units, and an Arts Centre with leisure, community and ancillary uses. It was received on 9 December 2022, validated on 2 February 2023 and withdrawn by the applicant on 6 September 2023.

A separate application to demolish Charringtons House, the United Reformed Church hall and numbers 1, 2 and 3 Old River Lane was submitted in December 2022 and also withdrawn.

Set against that, the current application was already a smaller proposition. It dropped from 225 homes to 171, and the Arts Centre is not in it.

What it means for you

  • The site is not going anywhere this year. The current application is still live on the register and still awaiting a decision, but the developer has told the council it cannot build what is in it.
  • Nothing has been refused and nothing has been approved. If you commented on the application, your comment stands on a scheme that the applicant now says is undeliverable.
  • The next step is not a planning decision. It is Cityheart taking revised options back to the Old River Lane Board. Only after that would a new application appear.
  • Watch the affordable housing number. If the 100% affordable option is the one that comes forward, the scheme changes character completely, from build-to-rent flats to social and affordable homes.
  • The nearby Water Lane Hall question is separate but connected. The council’s Executive was asked on 8 September to spend £22,500 on legal work towards a community transfer of the hall, which sits within the wider Old River Lane area. We covered that in Water Lane Hall: council asked for £22,500 to proceed.

New applications in the town appear on our Bishop’s Stortford planning news page.

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